Kerry: “All options are on the table” in response to Russian invasion of Crimea

posted at 11:01 am on March 2, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

Maybe the Obama administration is taking the Budapest Memorandum more seriously than we imagined — or at least want Russia to think we are. Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC’s This Week that “all options are on the table” for a response to Vladimir Putin’s Crimean invasion, including military options:

Secretary of State John Kerry said that “all options are on the table” when it comes to steps the U.S. can take to hold Russia accountable for its military movements in Ukraine, including economic sanctions and potentially military action.

In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos today on “This Week,” Kerry said Russian troops moving into the Ukrainian region of Crimea was “a military act of aggression” and that the U.S. will move swiftly to impose penalties if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not withdraw his troops.

While military force is among the options President Barack Obama is considering, Kerry said the U.S. and its allies hope they can avoid such action.

“The hope of the U.S. and everybody in the world is not to see this escalate into a military confrontation,” he said.

Sounds like tough talk, but would Russia buy it? Moving troops into Ukraine from the west would all but declare war between NATO and Russia, including the US. If Putin thought for a moment that the West would fight over Crimea again, he wouldn’t have taken it over this week in the first place.

In the military sphere, these include ordering the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), led by U.S. General Phil Breedlove, to conduct prudent planning and present options in response to the situation. While such planning should be left to the current commanders and military experts, some ideas to consider would include:

Using the NATO-Ukrainian Council and existing military partnerships with the Ukrainian military to share information, intelligence, and situational awareness with authorities in Kiev.

Providing advice to Ukrainian armed forces to prepare and position themselves in the event of further conflict.

Developing NATO contingency plans to react to full-scale invasion of Ukraine and to a partial invasion likely of Crimea. NATO contingency planning can be cumbersome, but in Libya it moved quickly. …

Many will consider any level of NATO involvement provocative and potentially inflammatory. Unfortunately, the stakes are high and the Russians are moving. Sitting idle, without at least looking at options, is a mistake for NATO and would itself constitute a signal to Putin — one that he would welcome.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, put it another way on Fox News Sunday. The problem is that we’re reacting instead of driving events, while Putin has moves figured out several steps ahead:

“Putin is playing chess and I think we are playing marbles, and I don’t think it’s even close” the Michigan Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They’ve been running circles around us. And I believe it’s the naïve position on the National Security Council and the president’s advisers that, if we just keep giving things to Russia, they’ll wake up and say, ‘the United States is not that bad.’ That is completely missing the motivations of why Russia does what Russia does.”

Putin intends to expand Russia’s “buffer zones,” as it has in Ukraine, Rogers said, predicting the next former Soviet republic to see a Russian invasion will be Moldova.

“It is in their interest to continue to push out that buffer zone,” Rogers said. “And, by the way, the big one that started this was the absolute retreat on our missile defense system in Poland and Czechoslovakia, caused us huge problems for our allies and emboldened the Russians and it really has been a downhill slide.”

Ethnic Russians only comprise 6% of the Moldovan population, compared to 18% in Ukraine. Moldova is also land-locked on the other side of the north shore of the Black Sea and has no common border with Russia, and wouldn’t even in a partitioned Ukraine. If I were Latvian (26% ethnic Russian) or Estonia (25% ethnic Russian), I’d be a lot more concerned than the Moldovans at the moment.

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He won’t do it. His base will not support him in a war or even threatening Russia. It goes against everything they believe and the Dem’s will be destroyed in the mid-term. Have no illusions, the only priority of team obama is to keep this disaster from reducing their domestic power.

Secretary of State John Kerry said that “all options are on the table” when it comes to steps the U.S. can take to hold Russia accountable for its military movements in Ukraine, including economic sanctions and potentially military action.

As long as Russia has a leader, and we don’t, USA won’t matter. War monger neo-cons might have to wait a bit longer than they want to. They thought Syria would give them war stock returns, but after that failed, they couldn’t wait to see what’s next. I doubt Oblummer will do anything, but look for McCain and company to fuel the fire of war.

“Putin’s aim is to show that he is in the catbird seat, and there is nothing we can do about it,” this former officer said. “He’s like a kid with a can of gasoline and a book of matches, and he laughs as Obama tries to deliver lectures on how fire is dangerous. Indeed, Putin throws banana peels on the ground, and Obama manages to slip on every one of them. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Nothing will happen . . . we have 38,000 troops in Afghanistan who are supplied largely through the “Northern Route,” which passes through Russia, and which can be cut off post-haste, leaving us to supply they solely through . . . Pakistan???

Kerry: “All options are on the table” in response to Russian invasion of Crimea

Bull! That isn’t even credible as a threat! Dr. Krauthammer had it right on Friday when he talked about things the rat-eared wonder could have done. Withdrawing the Russian ambassador, for example. Or declining to go to the big summit (G-20?) that Russia is hosting this spring. Instead all that has been done is an expression of “grave concerns.” So for Kerry to talk about all options on the table days after Russia invaded Ukraine, well that is just goddamned stupidity.

Wouldn’t you love to be Putin, or Khamenei or Jinping, playing opposite Barry and Kerry? It’s like NBA stars playing high school champions. The other countries know that all Barry can do is call them names – he does not have the will, the knowledge, the ability or the leadership skills needed to do more than that.

He won’t do it. His base will not support him in a war or even threatening Russia. It goes against everything they believe and the Dem’s will be destroyed in the mid-term. Have no illusions, the only priority of team obama is to keep this disaster from reducing their domestic power.

Have no illusions, the only priority of team obama is to keep this disaster from reducing their domestic power.

rob verdi on March 2, 2014 at 11:06 AM

That’s for sure. The rat-eared wonder gives a speech about Ukraine and heads off to a cocktail party fundraiser. He didn’t even bother attending the National Security Team’s meeting yesterday- EVEN THOUGH IT WAS BEING HELD AT HIS HOUSE! And today we get Kerry out there with a couple of vague threats. Ukraine simply isn’t a priority for this administration.

I’m not sure about Lithuania though, from what I understand those boys live for fighting and went out on patrol with our guys in Afghanistan wearing only shorts and helmets, singing at the top of their lungs and praying for contact.

Poot Poot might keep biting at the chunks of old empire but he’ll find a bigger fight than he wants or can handle.

That’s for sure. The rat-eared wonder gives a speech about Ukraine and heads off to a cocktail party fundraiser. He didn’t even bother attending the National Security Team’s meeting yesterday- EVEN THOUGH IT WAS BEING HELD AT HIS HOUSE! And today we get Kerry out there with a couple of vague threats. Ukraine simply isn’t a priority for this administration.

Happy Nomad on March 2, 2014 at 11:56 AM

That pretty much encapsulates the seriousness and professionalism of this administration in one tidy little package.

The POTUS, the freakin’ POTUS, has time for wine spritzers with the boneheaded alcoholics of the demorat party, but when it comes time to discuss a calamitous world event involving an old enemy, it’s a wave of the hand and a quick murmur of “Yeah yeah, I’ll figure it out later, just leave me alone.”

“And, by the way, the big one that started this was the absolute retreat on our missile defense system in Poland and Czechoslovakia, caused us huge problems for our allies and emboldened the Russians and it really has been a downhill slide.”

Pulling the missile defense system was a totally unforced error that everybody and his sister knew was an incredibly stupid move that would come back to bite us in the ass.

I’m not sure about Lithuania though, from what I understand those boys live for fighting and went out on patrol with our guys in Afghanistan wearing only shorts and helmets, singing at the top of their lungs and praying for contact.

Poot Poot might keep biting at the chunks of old empire but he’ll find a bigger fight than he wants or can handle.

Bishop on March 2, 2014 at 11:59 AM

Lithuania is also a NATO member, and Mr. Mom Jeans isn’t likely to still be preznit when/if Putin decides to exert force on them. Of course if he is still preznit it will be so uber awesome to watch Mr. Mom Jeans renig on our NATO obligations, won’t it?

Lithuania is also a NATO member, and Mr. Mom Jeans isn’t likely to still be preznit when/if Putin decides to exert force on them. Of course if he is still preznit it will be so uber awesome to watch Mr. Mom Jeans renig on our NATO obligations, won’t it?

NotCoach on March 2, 2014 at 12:06 PM

NATO and other defense agreements have reached the status of the Constitution and actual law with these piglets, they’ve become living, breathing documents to be interpreted in whichever way is most convenient for Dog Eater and his ego.

Kerry’s way of saying he has no freaking idea what should be done. He’s a worthless heap of squat plop. BUT not to worry, Kerry’s not alone, he’s got to other heaps of SQ, obama & Hillary to brian storm with.

NATO has the Baltic Air Police an aerial response force currently patrolling the skies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who have been full fledged members of the alliance. Currently USAF F-15s are on guard. Only a small deterrent but a definite thorn in Putin’s side. Any move into the Baltics by Putin would be a disaster for him. For historical persepctive after Stalin’s second occupation of Lithuania in 1944, partisans known as the forest brothers took out over 40, 000 Soviet troops over 20 years. Similar partisan movements were present in the other Baltic States as well as the Ukraine. Of course they were branded as “fascists” by the Russkies. In 2014, democracy movements have been also branded as “fascists” and “terrorists” by Putin’s mouth pieces. God help Ukraine.

Between Obama, Biden, Hillary, and Kerry, this Administration’s main foreign policy “thinkers” have been wrong on every major issue in the postwar era, including the “nuclear freeze” movement that would have “frozen” the Soviets’ upgraded medium-range missiles but prevented the US and NATO from countering with the Pershing IIs.

Obama is worthless and weak and Putin knows it. He also knows the girly-man President won’t do anything stronger than write a letter before he jets off to raise money and play golf.

America, this is what happens when you spend decades on Motor Voter, postcard registration, unrestricted absentee ballots, early voting, mail voting, and constantly badgering and cajoling every uninterested and undereducated halfwit who can fog a mirror to register, and make it so easy for them to vote they can’t resist the kvetching.

You get a pop culture icon with no experience, no guts, no spine, and no allegiance to his own country, and he populates his sissy Administration with like-minded worms.

We have over extended ourselves in places like Afghanistan, and before that in places like Iraq. When I say overextended ourselves it is more from an economic and political sense than a military one. Neo-Cons never understand the political and economic impacts of their foreign policy at home. This matters because it makes the American people more resistant to get involved after ten years of mucking around in Iraq and Afghanistan with little to show for it. So when we need money and the political support to get involved in something more important to American national security it is harder to get.

We need rational hawks to regain power in American foreign policy circles. A rational hawk would put the missile defense shield in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and help Estonia and Latvia prepare their military forces. One way we could pay the Russians back now would be to re-approve the missile shield and open up our weapon sales to those countries.

Also instead of simply throwing money at friendly countries, why not aide them in terms of weapons and equipment. They would cover the costs of maintaining the material and it would be a force maximizer. We don’t have to be hands on with every conflict on this earth to have a major impact militarily in situations like this. We have to become the arsenal of democracy again. That should make the defense industry very happy, not to mention strong. This will free up our military forces to be in other places.

When dealing with Russia you want to be in a position of strength, but not openly hostile either. For example I don’t oppose Russia fighting Islamic jihadist in places like Chechnya. I would not mind seeing Russia gain more influence in Central Asia, which is basically all Muslim majority countries, because if they don’t Jihadist will simply gain influence in those places. Same goes for Afghanistan once we leave. It also has the side benefit of creating more tensions with China which is also looking gain influence in Central Asia and Afghanistan. Also the more Russia diverts military forces to fighting Muslims, and toward the East to contain Chinese growth, means less Russian military forces and resources they can devote to playing around in places like Ukraine and the Baltic states.

Right now however we have two crappy foreign policies competing with each other over how to deal with Russia. One is the Obama of strategy of appeasement, and the other is to treat Russia like they are still a communist state with global goals of world domination. We don’t have to oppose Russia all the time and in all places. Even worse we have somehow managed to do Russia a big favor by staying in Afghanistan. We need their support to keep supplies coming in to our troops there, which they can use against us as leverage in other places, and we are securing an important strategic flank for them which they otherwise might have had to devote military resources to if we were not there.

So our Russian foreign policy needs to be more complex, ruthless, and frankly underhanded. Let us get the Russians working for our strategic aims instead of us working for them.